PAPRIKA AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE

A Tale of Two Weeks

OR 

How Smoked Paprika, Onion and Garlic Powders Save the World:

Scene 1: A recovering GingerMan wanted something approximating real food, so I hopped to the store after work and picked up chicken, as requested.  Into a pan, salt and pepper only, brown rice on the side.  Yay.  A few days later, he’s moved on, and there’s still plain chicken in the fridge.  A million things to do, and not much effort to expend, as I have no energy at the moment.

Scene 2: A family Holiday Breakfast, what can I do in batches large enough to feed the Pacific Fleet, full of complex flavor which such endeavors sometimes lack, especially when dietary needs must be met?

My Go-To Team: Smoked Paprika, Toasted Onion Powder and Garlic Powder.  They’re like having Cinnamon, Ginger and Nutmeg for baking.  A few things which play well alone, together, then team with others to save your bacon.  And eggs.  And stir-fry, risotto, meatloaf or squash soup.

Reasons to go with Smoked and Toasted: Developed flavors.  The work is done for you, naturally.  The peppers and onions are dried and smoked/ toasted, then ground so they are deep and easy to incorporate into anything.  BONUS POINTS: Ground Chipotle Pepper.  Adds a small to moderate amount of heat depending on the amount used with a huge amount of naturally smokey pepper flavor added to your dish.

The following are two new spins:

SOLUTION ONE: CHICKEN SALAD!

2-Large Broiled chicken breasts, cubed

1/4 mayonaise

1/4 greek yogurt

3 Large radishes, diced

3 TB Red Onion, finely diced

2 TB Toasted Sunflower Seeds

2 TB Roasted Peanuts, chopped

1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika

1/4 tsp Toasted Onion Powder

1/8 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp Penzeys Bavarian Seasoning (Crushed Brown Mustard Seed, Rosemary, etc.)

Kosher Salt and Pepper to Taste--The Chicken was already seasoned, and the Seeds, Peanuts, and Paprika all add savoriness so I didn’t add any extra.

1) Cube or Shred the Chicken, your preference, place in medium bowl.  Dice radishes, onion and add to bowl.  

2) In a separate bowl, mix mayo and yogurt.  This is my favored mix, both for this and tuna, BUT you must feel free to fiddle with the mayo/yogurt ratio to achieve your own private Nirvana.  

3) NOW, add the really good stuff--Smoked Paprika, Toasted Onion Powder (yes, from Penzeys, regular White Onion Powder is great too,) and the Bavarian Seasoning.  In lieu of Bavarian, I should think some Poultry Seasoning, a little extra crushed Rosemary (ooo-yum if fresh!), and maybe some dried or prepared mustard should do the trick, but I do love me some Bavarian blend, Bubb.  

4) Add half the dressing and mix lightly, then add half the remaining and the seeds and nuts, mixing lightly again.  

5) Stand back, admiring your creation.  Taste it.  Is it fresh and savory? Can you taste the chicken, but also the fresh crispness of the radish and the toastiness of the spices and peanuts?  Add the rest of the dressing to desired level of creaminess, plate, grab some crackers and try to control yourself.  

6) It is wonderful on it’s own.  It is fabulous on: Wheat bread or Toasted Sourdough, as a sandwich; on toasted rye or pumpernickel points, or a good, crispy cracker such as Triscuits.

SOLUTION 2: BISCUITS AND GRAVY!

So by adding The Three to the Bavarian we come to a piquant, herby flair.  But sometimes you want rich.  Down-home.  Family food. Say, Biscuits and Gravy? The regular recipe is traditionally....light on seasoning, so to achieve ultimate savoriness, I take the Spice Road:

I start, (as we did in Sept 2011 “Good Gavy! And Biscuits!”), with the traditional Sausage Gravy for Biscuits from the Joy of Cooking, pg. 547, calling for 8oz sausage then the standard 2-2-2 Fat-Flour-Dairy ratio to build a classic White Sauce.  

EXTRA RESTYLING:

A) This was for Easter Brunch, where a few people couldn’t/ shouldn’t eat pork, so I now regularly sub Turkey Italian Sausage, with Fennel.  

HMMM...ENOUGH SAUSAGE?

B) You will need the full amount of the fat as Butter, as there will be effectively no fat from the sausage. 

C) You will want to split the types of dairy 80%/20% to achieve creaminess and viscosity.  I’m OCD, your mileage my vary. Other effective Combinations include Half&1/2 + Whole Milk or Whole Milk + 2%, but I really wouldn't reduce fat content below that if your aim is the time-honored super-creamy, thick sauce.  (Weight Watchers, bless their healthy hearts, claim you can make sauce with just flour and skim milk, and as a physics experiment this is true.  The result cannot be described in words.)

Also note, this is triple the published recipe, for family servings:
  

24oz Turkey Italian Sausage, browned and crumbled

6 TB Butter

6 TB Wondra Superfine Flour

32oz (1qt / 4 cups) Heavy Cream

16oz (1 pint / 2 cups) Whole Milk

2 TB Smoked Paprika (Regular Sweet will, technically, work, but will NOT render the delicious, unctuous smokey flavor)

2 TB Toasted Onion Powder

1-2 TB (3-6 tsp) Garlic Powder--Your preference.  I live 30 miles away from the Garlic Capital of the World, so you can imagine how I roll.

1.5 tsp Kosher Salt-- To start.  I add more at the finish to taste

Follow all directions to construct Sauce, then,

YES, I RAN TWO SIX-CUP PANS AT A TIME, YO.

TO FINISH:

-Salt to taste

-1.5 tsp Ground Black Pepper, see Salt

-Dashes of Hot Pepper Sauce--I say Crystal Hot Sauce, possibly Tabasco Chipotle; and the stated 2 Dashes per 2 cups gravy are, to me, laughably uninspiring.  The Sauce is to add flavor more than heat, but until you're an experienced splasher, dash with wisdom and constraint to be sure Hotness has not overcome the desired Flavor. 

Add Sausage back in, ladle over Biscuits et VOIL`A!  

So put a little Spice in your Nice (enough), or, if you are Jedi Jasmin, Super Jenius, (courtesy of http://melomeals.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-build-raw-kale-salad.html) you can add a little Hale 'n' Hearty to your Kale Salad--Have a Party!  

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Change Your (Cruciferous) Fate!

I had been holding my breath for last weekend.  Weeks and weeks for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, months for Brave.  ALVH will wait for the next post as I still need to go lied down in a cool, dark place and practice calm breathing every time I think of that stinking mess of a celluloid disappointment.  But Brave.....

A young Scottish princess seeks to change her fate, avoid an arranged marriage, forge her own destiny...

And does.  With her mother.  Not with a man.  Not saved at the last minute by her big strong beau who’s won her over.  NO last minute glorious wedding.  

Familiar?

It begins with a mother instructing her teenage daughter in duty and protocol and ends in a beautiful friendship between two women that left me weeping several times through the film.  Each character is a finely crafted personality, nothing is tritely cookie-cutter. Throughout literature and film, conflict is carried as close to the end as possible, each person wrapped in their own spite, sorrow, fear and anger until the last possible moment for redemption when 1) The hero saves the day, Boy and Girl revel in True Love and Disapproving Parent joyfully accepts newly repented children; or 2) The fate of the pained falls far beyond salvation and Lives are ruined, Loves lost and Lessons are learned, which tend to become the motivation driving the plot of Case 1.


Brave has lesson learned from the past, but also fallible personalities who can immediately regret their harsh words and rash actions, as real people do.  The family is not perfect, the resolution not facile.  It is dark and perilous and Merida is a breathtaking heroine, especially when paired with her mother.  


As GingerMan posits, the true test of feminist strength in plotting comes when two female characters carry a story and do not focus on the romantic involvement of a Prince Charming or his necessity for resolution and salvation.  Brave is all skirts, even the ones on the blokes, and in battle, all skirts are equal.

Another masterpiece from Disney-Pixar.  Bring your kids and your tissues.  Bring your honey and tissues, this is some seriously bad-ass animation!  The texturing, lighting, movement of hair and fabric and facial expressions is exquisite.  D-P are pushing the envelope ever further toward perfection and this movie is absolutely BREATHTAKING (have I said that enough?) in it’s beautifully rendered Scottish medieval backdrop.

What better to finish a great movie night than Broccoli Salad, V 1.0 (oh, and some pulled pork!)?

We begin at the beginning before getting fancy with all the variations mentioned in the last post, and I’ve only just realised that I forgot the onion.  It is included in the recipe. I was in a state, is all I’m sayin’--Go see a woman become a Woman, Brave and True, then come home and snarf this down on a hot summer night!

BROCCOLI SALAD, V. 1.0

PREP TIME: 30 MINS

COOK TIME: BROCCOLI- 3 MINS / BACON 5-7 MINS

CHILL TIME: 15+ MINS

SALAD:

• 1 Med Head Broccoli:  Pare down to bite-size florets, then skin the stem and cut into bite-size pieces-you’ll be pleased when it’s cooked- it’s crunchy and sweet!
• 3+ Strips Bacon (Follow your porky-lovin’ heart)
• 1/4 C Yellow Raisins OR Brown Rasins OR Dried Cranberries 
• 1/4 C Chopped Yellow OR Red Onion

DRESSING:

• 2/3 C Light Sour Cream
• 3T+ Sugar
• 1T White Wine Vinegar OR Apple Cider Vineagar
• 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
• Several Grates Fresh Nutmeg OR
• 1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp Fresh Ground White Pepper 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Blanch the Broccoli:  A) Fill a large pot 2/3 full with water, set on the stove on highest heat and get to a near-boil;  B) Set a colander in the sink and have a bowl of ice handy;  C) When the pot comes to near-boil, turn down to medium, then pop the broccoli into the CALM, NOT BOILING WATER.  Stand over it for 3 minutes, watching the color change.  You're looking for an immediate brightening of color-3 minutes, that’s it. D) Remove pot from stove IMMEDIATELY AND DUMP BROCCOLI INTO COLANDER;  

E) Run cold water over broccoli and toss in colander for a count of 20, turn off water, then dump the ice into the colander and gently mix the broccoli and ice then LEAVE IT TO COOL.  Make sure you keep the broccoli in the colander so the water and ice all drain away, preventing water-logging.  The point of blanching is to take the raw edge off veggies and convert a bit of their starch to sugar, giving them a lovely bit of sweetness and softening them just a TINY bit.  They should be bright green and very crisp, but the florets will have lost the characteristic rubberiness of their raw state and the peeled stem will be a heavenly, crunchy sweet treat. 



 Cook the Bacon:  I have often just dried out the same pot, cut the slices with scissors into the pot and cooked them up, then removed and drained.  Technique is not crucial, but if you have an electric stove, you can leave the burner on, dry the pan real quick and get the bacon back on while you're dealing with the broccoli's ice stage.
  Mix the Dressing:  Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Taste for sweet/sour balance and correct for your preference.  I like it sweet-tangy, your mileage may vary.
  WHY SOUR CREAM??  Most traditional recipes use mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, but when I was in a panic the last time, I subbed the sour cream and loved it, so my base-line is Clover Light Sour Cream.  Mayo and The Whip will have their day in court, I assure you!
Notes on variants:  Apple Cider Vinegar will give it a bit more fruitiness; Dried Fruits can be mixed and matched to great effect; and black pepper can be substituted just as well, but use less as it is more pungent and somewhat more acrid (that is a positive attribute in pepper, remember).  

SPECIAL NOTE:  Fresh Nutmeg is not a mystical device, you can find them in many markets, at Penzeys shops or at Penzeys.com.  They seem a bit pricey, but you get HUGE flavor from a few grates and in a ziploc or tupperware container they will literally last until the end of eternity.  You will get your money’s worth and all it takes is a microplane grater or a fine-grade rasp from the hardware store.  Nutmeg is bitchin’ on all dark greens:  kale, spinach, broccoli, chard, etc. as well as anything Indian and all baking applications.

MIX IT ALL UP!!!!  Just toss all the stuff into a large bowl and add the dressing, then gently turn over and over with a spoon to cover.  Voy-OLA!!! 



  SERVE: With a generous side of Pulled Pork from your crock pot with any of Guy Fieri’s kick-ass BBQ sauces (you'll probably find them in your supermarket, but this is a shopping link as well,) on a toasted brioche bun.  

Be Bold, Be Beautiful, and most of all Be Brave, in your kitchen and your life. In the words of Ben & Jerry’s founder Ben Cohen, there are very few irredeemable mistakes, so start experimenting and change your Fate! 


**Seriously, All photos property of Joy of Cooking Fairy or Disney-Pixar, You know what's-what and Who's Who, play fair and be good, Munchkins.

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HIGH ON POT (ROAST)

In the spirit of freezin’ mah arse off, I’ve continued my Winter Dinner Campaign, which, after conquering Roasted Tomato Soup and Roasted Squash Soup, I added Pot Roast and decided it was a formal endeavor. There will be points and a possible badge in the offing.

A few weeks ago, GingerMan’s favorite uncle passed away after a long term with prostate cancer, necessitating a quick trip to Belfast, NI.  I stayed behind due to work and the fact I can’t travel 5 time zones both ways in 4 days without losing my mind.  Jedi Jasmin invited me for dinner that Saturday night and served a meal theretofore forgotten to me and her hunky squeeze, the inimitable A.: Pot Roast. Paradise Reclaimed.

Two days later, having the day of Ginger’s return free, I reached for my Joy.  

What a lovely phrase.

Reach for your Joy.  No matter the circumstance, no matter the drastic event that has befallen you, for comfort, for sustenance, reach for your Joy.  No matter the depths this Seasonal Affective BS has dragged me to, cooking has somehow seemed my small triumph.  Food in the fridge, victory in the mental bank.  I picked the man up and we returned to a home redolent of comfort.

Our reading today comes from page 477 of the 2006 Joy of Cooking.  Actually, let’s back up the bus and refer to page 466,  where full discourse is given to different cuts suitable to Pot Roasting, Stewing and Braising Meat.  If you are Crock Pottin’ this sucker, time-travel to page 99 for recipe conversion information.  See?  Knowledge is Joy! Raaa-men.

Your next consideration after Procurement is obviously Soundtrack.  Today is 80’s Classic Hits, including Supertramp, Billy Joel, Duran Duran and Journey.  If you think "Don’t Stop Believin’" is an auto-tuned ditty sung by high-school be-boppers, stop here and hit iTunes right now. Search Journey.  Download "Don’t Stop", "Any Way You Want It", "Lights" (an ode to San Francisco) and "Separate Ways".  It’s Music for Red Meat.  And don’t forget the Scorpions. Rock your Chuck Roast like a Hurricane!

The recipe gives exact directions for pan/ dutch oven procedures. Follow those exactly, and if you have cast iron, this is the precise moment to employ it. I crock pot it.  If you haven’t given yourself this gift yet, DOOOO EEET!  I cannot express to you just how tender and gorgeous this formerly tough, chewy hunk of meat becomes after 8 hours on high--8 hours of cooking you do not have to be present for.  

Okay, start by reading through all the instructions.  Pull out all your aromatics.  I go for onion, garlic, carrot and leek. Pro Tip for onion cutting: do it last (duh), dump in a bowl and cover with a cold, wet paper towel.  This occurred to me as a naval recruit immediately after stepping out of the teargas chamber. As it was Illinois in February, we had had to wait days for this training exercise because cold wet air disperses the gas. 

Wage war on the bulb with Brawny.

Put them in bowls so they are handy when you have the hot pan going.  

 

This is called Mis-En-Place, basically meaning everything in place, ready to go. I mix kosher salt and freshly ground pepper in a small bowl ready for rubbing on the meat.  I also mix my spices.  This go-round I’m experimenting with Penzeys Spices Forward! seasoning.  It’s like their seasoned salt, but without the salt, so I can control the amount the overall dish has.  

As Usual, I'm Smokey, Hot and Saucy

It’s made up of black pepper, onion and garlic powder, celery extract, paprika and a good amount of tumeric. Lovely, earthy, and evah-so-slightly hot but not overly so.  I add smoked paprika to nearly everything in the universe and the recipe calls for the traditional bay leaves that grace every soup and stew.

Oh, the hot pan?  Yes, this is the secret to successful Crock Potting.  Building flavor with a quick trip to the stovetop.  So a little oil in the pan and the aromatics hop in till soft.  I like to leave the leeks and carrots in a tiny bit longer for a bit of color, so I do these as a second batch and they all go in the crock as a nest for the hunk o’ beast. 

I like to deglaze the pan with some red wine and pour that in, then re-oil the pan liberally for the main event.

A word about The Taming of the Beasties.  

Warm up yer meat.  Take it out of the fridge before cooking, and if frozen, defrost in the fridge first.  Why?  No-one likes hopping from the A/C to the hot, mean streets, my friends.  We don’t and neither does our dinner, so give it a fighting chance or it will tend to seize up in an interesting and unattractive way.  It will also cook very, very unevenly.  Think spa treatment and everyone will be happier. Salt and pepper, pat lightly on all sides, and let it relax for a while.

Place the meat in the hot, oiled pan, then just leave it alone.  Sear it for color.  Sear it for flavor.  You will not be searing it to “seal in the juices”, as this is a myth.  Science has shown that this is not true, that the same amount of fluid is lost from seared meat as from meat placed directly in the long-term cooking vessel.  


But hummm-daddy, that Maillard Reaction, the gorgeous browning that imparts the incomparable flavor to seared meat will add that lip-smackin’ somethin’ special to your final dish.  You will need to turn the beastie, 5 minute per flat side, then use your tongs to hold it on the two long sides for a few minutes per. 

Voooy-ola!  Now just lay it on the bed of aromatics, deglaze the pan again and pour it over the meat.  

Pour in the requisite amount of liquid (I mix red wine and beef stock), place the crock in the machine, program and LEAVE IT!

BWOOOOHAHAHAHA!!!!!  Serious cooking, 1/2 hour of prep!

And that’s how I do (crock) pot.

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